A Smoking-Hot Trend

By

Bruce Palling

August 12, 2011

With roots in America's antebellum South, the world of barbecue seems far removed from European traditions. While Dixie could still be called the heartland, with its wide variety of smoked brisket, baby-back ribs and pulled pork, barbecue has spread to other U.S. regions and as far away as South Africa and Australia, with offshoots anywhere it is possible to grill or smoke food outdoors.

But in Europe, it still has an aura of cheap cuts of meat smothered in sauces and smoke. Except for the renowned Extebarri (www.asadoretxebarri.com) in Spain's Basque country, which is routinely thought to be the greatest exponent of the cuisine here, foodies don't flock to barbecue establishments. But, done properly, it is a compelling way to relax with friends and achieve tastes that can't be matched in a conventional kitchen.

In recent years, interest in barbecue techniques for high-quality cuts of meat has grown, thanks in part to the creation of the British BBQ Championship (fieldtoforkfestival.co.uk) for amateur and professional chefs. Now in its third year, the event is the brainchild of Jody Scheckter, the former Formula 1 champion who now owns Laverstoke Park Farm, an organic meat producer in Hampshire.

"Being South African, barbecue is our national cuisine—lamb chops, sausages and just big chunks of meat, so I wanted to encourage barbecue principles in a wider range of cuisines," Mr. Scheckter said. "We started off running the awards using American regulations, but we soon abandoned that as it is more interesting to see what top restaurants can do with barbecuing. Because we get crowds of around 7,000 for the two-day event, we also want to show how to cook barbecue at home—if you do it correctly, it makes all the difference."

What makes these championships, held in late July, particularly interesting is the way the contestants use barbecue techniques in a variety of cuisines. Chef Michelle Kleingeld, of London's Salt Yard restaurant (www.saltyard.co.uk), specializes in Italian- and Spanish-style tapas, while this year's runner-up, Tristan Welch of London's Launceston Place (www.launcestonplace-restaurant.co.uk), focuses on updated British classics. "Most people still see barbecue in a Neolithic style," he said, "but there is so much more you can do with char grills and smoking ingredients." His dish was a slow-cooked beef brisket marinated in honey and thyme on slices of barbecue toast with bone marrow, pickled onions and wild-herb salad. Bruno Loubet (www.bistrotbrunoloubet.com), who took top prize last year with his peppery lamb shoulder, raw vegetable and herb salad, told me: "Growing up in southwest France, my mother would cook most nights over the charcoal grill, so I have always loved that way of cooking."

However, there is a whole barbecue tradition in Britain that seems to have been overlooked until now—Northern Indian cuisine. The first professional chef to win the British barbecue award—and regain the title this year—is Abdul Yaseen of London's Cinnamon Kitchen (www.cinnamon-kitchen.com). "I am just trying to work within the roots of Indian cuisine in order to make creative and innovative dishes that are accessible to the common man," said the chef, who started his career at the Oberoi Hotel group, creating rustic kebab and grill cuisine in Rajasthan and New Delhi. "It is all to do with heat, smoke and spices in order to create interesting flavors that can cope with barbecue techniques."

Mr. Yaseen won the barbecue championship in 2009 with a grilled water-buffalo soola (a traditional marinade) and spatchcocked chicken with different spices for the leg and breast. This year, he prepared a rack of lamb "Rajasthan Royal" style, along with belly of pork with mustard, honey and kokum berries. I went Monday to the Cinnamon Kitchen to witness him make the lamb dish inside his open grill. He used highly controlled exposure to the flames, along with considerable resting, to keep lamb tender. The end result was a delicately smoked and spiced, perfectly pink rack of lamb.

While leading chefs are experimenting with barbecue techniques, others are providing authentic versions of the traditional Southern U.S. classics in unusual locations. The most interesting development is the creation of a barbecue truck by an American entrepreneur. Jamie Berger, 43 years old, created the Pitt Cue Company with his chef partner Tom Adams, 23. The duo imported an American smoking machine and started selling barbecue from a stainless-steel trailer under Hungerford Bridge on London's South Bank, between the London Eye and the Royal Festival Hall. Depending on the weather, they can sell out of their 300 helpings within hours.

There are no menus, but the main dishes are either pulled pork, slow-roasted for 14 hours over hickory chips and mixed with beans and salad, or beef brisket with pickles on toast. The flavors are intense and powerful; Mr. Berger puts that down to the fact that his mother was from Atlanta, but I suspect it has more to do with rigorous testing to get the formula right.

"We were inspired to create the best Southern U.S. barbecue in London, as it's something that London doesn't do very well," he said. "We make everything ourselves from the very best ingredients. Pulled pork is our daily standard, along with beef brisket on a less regular basis and we also sometimes have smoked ribs, smoked wings and smoked sausages." They even take the skin off the shoulders of the pork before it goes into the smoker and make pork scratchings, "which we serve with a signature cocktail, the Pickle Back—a shot of whiskey chased with a shot of the juice left over when we finish a tub of our own homemade pickles."

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